Fantasy Premier League Gameweek 35 tips: With three big teams in action, Sadio Mane, Gabriel Jesus could be profitable picks

We hope you had a good Gameweek 34. Manchester City definitely did, as they romped to the title with five games to spare as Manchester City limply went down 1-0 to West Bromwich Albion at home. The top point-scorer for the week was a certain Chris Smalling, helped by his goal against Bournemouth to reach 16 points. Two gentlemen also scored 14 points, and one of them, the handsome Frenchman Olivier Giroud, will not be in action this week, but the other should be at the top of your list.

Wilfried Zaha, the saviour for Crystal Palace and FPL managers Alex Ferguson’s last notable buy for Manchester United, Wilfried Zaha, is surely the best player in the Premier League outside the top six. Dragging Crystal Palace to the brink of safety on his comeback from injury is the best way for him to get into Gareth Southgate’s squad for Russia. The last time Zaha scored two goals in a match was in August 2016 and he did in style against Brighton, after his team had gone behind. It’s a crying shame that only 6.4% of all FPL managers have even considered picking the winger.

Seven goals and five assists is a good return when you consider that the Eagles winger has missed almost one-third of the season through injury. Palace face a Watford side away from home, who have one point from their last five games and have conceded the second highest goals in the division, 60. Need a saviour for a truncated Gameweek? Call Wilf Zaha. Three big teams in action Gameweek 35 is one of those annoying weeks where you look at the calendar and are hapless about which players to pick for this week, without having to tweak a lot for the next week. Fortunately, you have three of the top six in action, with Liverpool facing West Brom away, Arsenal hosting West Ham at the Emirates Stadium and newly crowned champions Manchester City welcoming Swansea City to the Etihad.  

  The bad news is that we would advise you to not use your wildcard or free hit if still available at this point of the season. The good news is that an alternative is to use those chips, if you still have them is gameweek 37, which has a total of 16 games. Assuming you have 6-7 players from the big three playing this weekend and another 2-3 from the rest, we suggest you take a minus four if there’s a player you are desperate to bring in for this gameweek. It’s nearing the end of season, so the re-buy values are unlikely to be drastically affected, so punters, by all means, go for it. When in doubt, pick Liverpool It’s become a handy rule of thumb this season to pick Mo’ Salah to avoid any creeping self-doubts that one may have, regarding the captain’s pick. Similarly, with Arsenal and Manchester City left with hardly anything to competitively play for — the latter gunning for a host of Premier League records of course and the former busy with the Europa League — Liverpool are odds on favourites to drop the Baggies into the Championship this weekend.

Mo’ Salah has reached his peak and there’s no point talking to you if you still don’t have him in your team. Apart from the Egyptian though, there are a couple of interesting choices FPL managers can make. Striker partner Sadio Mane has reached double figures for goals in the Premier League for the first time and with 4 goals and 3 assists in 7 PL games, could be a game-changer this weekend. Then there are the two defenders, Trent Alexander-Arnold. He grabbed 12 points last gameweek and for a 19-year-old, has been truly remarkable in his first full season at the top level. Virgil Van Dijk, the man whose name sounds like a 17th century renaissance painter, has really toughened up the defence, even forcing Dejan Lovren to bring his brain to matchdays. He’s expensive, costing 5.7 to Alexander-Arnold’s 5.4, so we suggest you pick the latter up. Jesus, the redeemer With Sergio Aguero out for the rest of the season, the only choice that Pep Guardiola has is to start Gabriel Jesus up front and watch the returns trickling in. Ten goals and six assists in just 1288 minutes is a very handy return, as evidenced by Pep’s faith in the youngster. If you think the price, 10.1, is too steep, then Raheem Sterling, at 8.8 but with 200 points for the season, is the buy for you. Salah is only one goal from tying Andy Cole and Cristiano Ronaldo for most goals in a 38-game Premier League season, and he can do it against the Baggies on Saturday afternoon. It won’t be the same as doing it at Anfield, but Salah will take that record anywhere, especially after a truly path-breaking season.